Happy New Year!
by nikinou
Summary: Stan and Peggy celebrate the new year


December 31, 1970. - Peggy and Stan enjoyed a fun evening at Ken and Cynthia Cosgrove's New Year's Eve party. This was a different kind of New Year's Eve Peggy or Stan had spent before. Ken and Cynthia had recently bought a large house in Forest Hills, so the party was pretty big, and couples were invited with their kids. Harry and Jennifer brought their three, Joan was there with her son, plus many other couples and kids. Stan watched how Peggy was interacting with all of the children, who seemed to take an instant liking to her. She seemed a little uncomfortable at first, they way she did with his cousins' kids, but began to loosen up after a while.

Stan was wondering how long she wanted to wait to think about starting a family of their own. He would start tomorrow, if it were up to him. She had turned 30 in May. She should probably at least entertain the thought of kids. But what would the reality be? How would she feel...could she enjoy it, knowing that her first child, her son was "out there"? Stan finally decided not to think about this for a while. Maybe Peggy was right, they still had plenty of time. Ok, maybe not plenty, but they had time. Plus, he started thinking ...he wanted her to himself for a while.

They stayed at the party till just shortly after 12:30, and called cab to take them back to the city. Peggy leaned her head on Stan's shoulder and fell fast asleep. Stan held her close and looked out the window, watching the buildings pass the car window, looking at the clear night sky and thinking about how they got to this point, the progression of their relationship. He thought back to that crazy weekend at the Waldorf, where he made a complete ass of himself...and she proved who she really was...a smart, confident woman, not willing to take any of his shit. He laughed to himself thinking about all of it, and how he grew to love her, or better yet, realize that he loved her all along.

When they reached their building and got out of the cab, the air seemed considerably colder, and they were both exhausted. Peggy looked up at Stan and said. "Can we please just stay home tomorrow? I love your family, but I am just dead".

"I know how you feel. I'm dead too." Stan answered. "It's supposed to snow anyhow...maybe we'll get lucky and be snowed in.

"Oh my God, I'll start praying for a snow day right now!" Peggy said, as they were climbing the never-ending staircase to their apartment.

As soon as they got in the door, they both made a beeline for the bedroom, where they pulled off their clothes and flung them onto the chair in the corner. They plopped into bed and gave each other a sweet kiss and fell asleep on their sides with Stan wrapped around Peggy.

January 1, 1971 - Old Man Winter waited until New Year's Eve revelers returned home before delivering the biggest snowfall of the winter. 6.4" of snow accumulated between 4AM-4PM, with much of it falling in the storm's initial three hours. This was the century's largest New Year's Day snowfall in New York.

Stan woke up first on New Year's Day at about 9:30 and looked out of the window. Snow was already really piling up outside. The sky was steely gray and the snowflakes were coming down fast and furiously. Peggy was going to be so happy to just stay home, and so was he. He walked into the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee. The apartment was warm, and the scent of pine from the Christmas tree still permeated the air. He sat on the couch in the living room, watching the snow outside. A feeling of real calm and contentment came over him, like he'd never felt before. He was always a pretty happy guy, but now he was truly content, and it felt great.

All of Stan's quiet reflection was abruptly ceased when Peggy practically flew out of the bedroom, running straight to the bathroom. She was in such a rush, the bathroom door was wide open. Then Stan heard her, throwing up violently. "Holy shit, Pegs...you didn't drink that much, or did you?"

Poor Peggy was on her knees in front of the toilet. She shook her head no, and then started throwing up again. Now Stan was behind her, wiping her forehead and holding her hair back. "Do you want some water, baby?" Stan asked. She shook her head no again. And again, threw up some more. This went on for what seemed like forever to Peggy. Finally, she felt completely spent and stood up and worked her way over to the sink, holding onto the wall and the counter. She washed her face and rinsed out her mouth. "I wanna go back to bed, Stan." He helped her into the bedroom, she was felling a little dizzy. "What DID you drink, anyway?" He asked her.

"Not much really. A couple of glasses of red wine maybe." she stammered. "That's it".

Peggy got back under the covers. "Stan, please close the bedroom door. That coffee stinks."

He went over and shut the door. The coffee stinks? She loves the smell of coffee, Jesus, she must really be sick.

"You want me to make you tea?" he asks.

"No. Thank you. I just want to lie here".

"Did you see the snow?" he wants her to think of something else. "There are at least a few inches out there already!"

"Good." she replies.

"I'll be right back." Stan tells her, closing the door on his way out.

She hasn't felt this lousy in a while. Well, maybe not so long ago. She felt like hell on Thanksgiving night. But she ate too much that day. And maybe drank too much. But she really didn't drink that much last night, a couple of glasses of wine, oh yeah, some champagne. Just for the toast. Could she be less able to hold her liquor as she is getting older? She has had a lot going on lately. And she has been so run down too. No wonder the flu got her. Maybe she should take better care of herself, slow down a bit. All of these thoughts swirled through her head, and then it came to her...holy shit...did she get her period in December? Peggy sat upright in bed and began to think...oh my God...no, I didn't.

Stan walked back into the room with a glass of ginger ale.

"I know you don't want this, but you should drink it anyway. You don't want to get dehydrated." He looks at her pale face and her blank stare sort of freaks him out a bit.

"Are you ok? Do you need to go back in there?" he motions toward the hallway.

"I'm late." Peggy says quietly.

"For what? You're sick. There's a ton of snow out there, we're not going anyplace..."

"No, Stan...I'm late..."

Finally, the light bulb goes on over his head. His little grin becomes a big, wide smile.

"Well, Happy New Year!" Stan kisses her and hugs her tightly. Peggy is still a little stunned. But he is so happy, and she can feel his exuberance in his embrace.

"Happy New Year, Stan." Peggy can't believe this is real.


End file.
